In The News

Madelaine Drohan October 18, 2007
Headlines decrying a foreign takeover of large domestic-based businesses have been a common sight since the 1980s. However, as columnist Madelaine Drohan points out, these purchases happen all over the world, by independent companies from a diverse set of countries. She sees no hegemon struggling to rise to global economic domination through strategic purchasing, although the UK, the US and most...
Marcus Noland October 17, 2007
A young workforce can be a great economic asset. Yet Arab states, with booming populations, desperately need to increase employment opportunities for young adults. Foreign investment has stagnated, limited to oil and tourism as firms remain wary of weak intellectual property rights and uncertain political transitions. Meanwhile, state-dominated economies have failed to achieve linkages to outside...
Bob Davis October 16, 2007
Technology and foreign investment do not distribute their vast benefits in evenhanded ways, suggests a new report from the International Monetary Fund. “The report is an unusual admission by the IMF of the downsides of globalization,” reports journalist Bob Davis for the Wall Street Journal. The IMF also points out that benefits from trade do have a wide distribution, but anti-globalization...
Pranab Bardhan October 15, 2007
Globalization undoubtedly has many complex and unintended consequences. However, Pranab Bardhan, economist at University of California, Berkeley, argues that globalization cannot be credited as either an evil force responsible for rising inequality or a virtuous one behind falling poverty rates in the developing world. Conventional wisdom holds that notable increases in inequality and steep...
Chris McGreal October 5, 2007
Sino-African trade has reached unprecedented levels, but the debate over its benefits for Africa rages on. Intent on acquiring natural resources to continue its blistering rate of economic growth, China turns to African nations for oil, metals and other valuables. In return, African governments, like the one in Zambia, receive huge aid and development packages and loans at below-market rates...
Matthew J. Slaughter September 28, 2007
Many workers in the US fear that the United Automobile Workers’ strike against General Motors signals that the domestic auto industry is “losing” at globalization. The strike has ended, but some workers urge the federal government to scale back US involvement in international trade, most notably with emerging markets like China. Economist Matthew Slaughter counters that globalization has netted...
Anand Giridharadas September 26, 2007
India was an early leader in benefiting from the technology-driven globalization of the job market, but now positions such jobs all over the globe. A traditional recipient of outsourced labor, India has experienced rising worker wages and competition from other developing countries. As a result, writes journalist Anand Giridharadas, Indian firms have opened offices in countries such as Mexico,...